Top 23 Most Famous Flute Star Artists Of All Time

The flute is a musical instrument with a long history, so it should come as no surprise that it attracts many musicians, performers, and among them the very famous.

In the hands of a professional trumpeter , the sound of this instrument will stand out in a symphony orchestra. It is possible to imagine the versatility of this instrument by describing its sound as "singing" with opera artists, "dancing" in ballets and musicals. Meanwhile, when used in jazz, rock or folk music, flutes do a great job of supporting other instruments. In this article, we will provide you with 23 great names of artists, famous Flute players around the world!

James Galway

Arguably the most famous flute player in the world ever, James Galway was born in Ireland in December 1939. He grew up in a working-class family of amateur musicians and got his start. studied music in his uncle's drum team.

At the age of eleven, Galway's talent was on display and he won the Flute Belfast Blowing Championship in all three categories (junior, senior and extended) in just one day! Galway went on to study at the Royal College of Music, Guildhall and the Paris Conservatory under the tutelage of renowned Flute artists such as Geoffrey Gilbert, Jean-Pierre Rampal and Marcel Moyse.

Galway's professional career began when he played for orchestras and he performed with a number of orchestras in London before becoming principal flute player at the Berlin Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Herbert von Karajan. 1969.

However, only 8 years later, he decided to leave to pursue a solo career, so far, his name has become famous around the world and become an artist that is said to go far beyond traditional limits. tradition of the classical music world.
Although born into a family with a tradition of amateur music, it is undeniable that his flute technique has captivated listeners and he was the first Flute artist to achieve fame. around the world. He has made countless records, toured and performed in many national events.

As fame and wealth increased, he invested in expensive Flutes with more elaborate and elaborate designs. He owned Flutes in gold, even diamonds. He has been called by many as "the man with the golden flute".

Jeanne Baxtresser

Jeanne Baxtresser (born 1947) is an American Flute teacher and artist. She began her musical career at the age of 10 after failing to learn the piano. Surprisingly, when she learned Flute, she quickly improved. Growing up, she attended Julliard in New York and in her senior year she won a place in the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

Jeanne Baxtresser played there for 7 years, then she joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra before being invited to join as principal flute player of the New York Philharmonic in 1981, where she remained for more than 15 years and hold the position of professor.

She has made many recordings as both an orchestral musician and a soloist. Jeanne Baxtresser was awarded a lifetime achievement award from the National Flute Association in 2006 for maintaining an increasingly high standard of artistic excellence for Flute.

Herbie Mann

Herbie Mann became the first jazz flute artist whose entire career played only Flute. Mann drew inspiration from playing Flute from many ethnic styles such as Latin America and the Middle East, combining Jazz with Contemporary Music. Mann had a memorable collaboration with fellow jazz Flute player Sam Most. Despite the difference between performance styles, the two men frequently played together and at their concerts.

Jean-Pierre Rampal

Born in 1922, Jean Pierre Rampal is credited with making the Flute popular as a solo classical instrument it hasn't since the 18th century. Rampal's playing style has an extraordinary technique. and produced a bright sound, and with his Latin temperament, he amazed the audience with his skillful performances.

He really helped popularize the Flute as a solo instrument, restoring a large number of forgotten works from the Baroque period and encouraging contemporary composers to write music for the instrument, including including Francis Poulenc, whose Sonata is now the key piece in every Flute artist's repertoire. Rampal really paved the way for the next generation of superstars just like Emmanuel Pahud and James Galway.

Ian Anderson

Moving away from classical music and jazz, next we have Ian Anderson, who is best known as the Flute player for the rock band Jethro Tull. Raised in Scotland and later Blackpool in the north-west of England, Anderson began playing guitar and singing in rock bands. In the end, he stopped because he didn't think he would be as good as other virtuoso guitarists like Eric Clapton.

Ian Anderson even traded his guitar for a Flute and found that this was the instrument that helped him quickly get better and easily play the bluesy rock style.

Bobbi Humphrey

Bobbi Humphrey (born 1950) is the first female Flute player to be signed to blue note, she plays jazz, funk and soul-jazz and has recorded 12 albums as a Flute artist and vocalist .

Despite this remarkable success and collaborations with artists such as Herbie Mann, Duke Ellington and George Benson, Bobbi became frustrated by the lack of money earned from his performances and recordings. She went on to found her own record label and music management company in 1994 with the aim of providing better contracts to performers.

Theobald Boehm

Any discussion of famous flute players would be incomplete without mentioning Theobald Boehm (1794-1881). Although Boehm is an important figure in Flute history, he is not known much as a performer but as an instrument maker. He created a complex key mechanism that for the first time allowed the Flute to produce a truly "colorful" sound and play the right tune. This system remains the basis of Flute design today.

Yusef Lateef

The influence of world music is also a major factor in the music of Yusef Lateef, who rose to fame in the early 1960s as a member of the Cannonball Adderley Sextet, played by saxophonist Julian Edwin "Cannonball." Adderley is at the top.

Lateef is known for developing Sam Most's vocal techniques by speaking syllables into the instrument to achieve unusual effects. Latif is also the first Flute musician to play jazz music using different ethnic flutes such as Chinese, Arabic and his own invented Flute.

Emmanuel Pahud

Emmanuel Pahud (born 1970 – Geneva, Switzerland) did not come from a musical family but fell in love with Flute from an early age. He trained in classical music at the Paris Conservatory and became a flute player of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra in 1992. He was later appointed principal of this Conservatory.
Emmanuel Pahud is known for his versatile playing style, he has recorded and performed in a variety of musical genres including baroque, jazz and contemporary.

Jasmine Choi

Jasmine Choi was born in Seoul, South Korea but trained in the US and now lives in Austria. She has won numerous awards including during her time as a student at Julliard School and held positions in several orchestras. including Principal Flute at the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.
However, Choi's solo career soon took off and she made numerous recordings of various musical genres, including her own compositions. In 2016, she was named a 'cultural ambassador' for her hometown of Daejon in South Korea.

Marcel Moyse

Marcel Moyse was born in France in 1889 and studied at the Paris Conservatory under Philippe Gaubert and Paul Taffanel. He went on to play the main flute in many orchestras in Paris and also made a name for himself as a soloist, the music of Marcel Moyse presenting a powerful, clear and flexible timbre with fast vibrato, very stylistically France. For most of his life, however, Moyse lived and worked in Canada and the United States, where he became a distinguished teacher, trying to teach his students “not how to blow the Flute but how to make a sound.” music".

Many famous flute players of the 20th century were his students, including James Galway, Trevor Wye and William Bennett, all of whom later became famous teachers.

Jacques Hotteterre

Jacques Hotteterre (1674 – 1763) and is credited as the 'inventor' of the baroque flute. He even wrote a book on how to play Flute that was first published in 1719 with the title “L'Art de Preluder sur la Flute Transversaire” (translated as “The Art of Playing the Horizontal Flute”).

Gareth Davies

One of the most respected orchestral Flute musicians has to be Gareth Davies, who studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama before becoming the youngest lead Flute artist at the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra at just 23 years old. .

Gareth Davies quickly achieved much success and was appointed leader of the LSO in 2000. With the orchestra, he made numerous recordings of classical repertoire and soundtracks, including 'Harry Potter' and 'Star Wars'.

In addition to her performing career, Davies also works as a regular teacher in schools, conservatories and universities, mentoring emerging artists.

Frank Wess

Frank Wess, a member of the Count Basie Big Band was the first Flute jazz musician to record widely with a big band and perform on the radio. His famous recordings such as 'Perdido' in 1954 contributed greatly to the elevation of this instrument in the jazz world. Many remixes were written with the Flute solo especially for Wess and after he left the band his role was taken over by tenor/artist Eric Dixon.

Johann Joachim Quantz

Another famous artist on this list, Johann Joachim Quantz (1697-1773) wrote a treatise on the flute in 1757 that greatly influenced performers throughout the 18th century. Quantz also contributed to the development of musical instrument design and significantly to its repertoire, he wrote nearly 600 works in various genres. Johann Joachim Quantz was also a court musician - a position held in high esteem in those days.

Matt Molloy

In the world of folk music, Ireland is becoming a 'hot spot' for talent and the Flute is one of the most commonly played instruments. One of these talented artists is Matt Molloy, born in 1947 and winner of the All Ireland Flute Championship at the age of 19.

Molloy is also considered one of the best Irish musicians. He has an unconventional and liberal playing style, Molloy adapts his flute techniques and many contemporary Irish folk artists imitate his style.

Molloy is best known as a soloist but he spent time playing mostly in bands including The Bothy Band and Planxty before joining the Chieftains in 1979.
He now owns a pub in Ireland, which is also where his concerts take place.

Robert Dick

Robert Dick (born 1950) is a composer, teacher and author, as well as a performer and his style is a blend of classical, world music, electronic and jazz. Throughout his career, Dick has recorded a wide variety of music, but most recently he has focused on performing and improvising his own music.

Perhaps his most important legacy, however, is the invention of the 'glissando head joint' - a custom Flute head joint that allows performers to slide between chroma pitches commonly played on a Flute, just like on a guitar. electricity.
For this contribution, Dick was awarded a 'Lifetime Achievement Award' by the National Flute Association and received a standing ovation from the press, including the New York Times, who said it was 'talented. His technical resources and imagination seem limitless' and the Jazz Times, a news agency, called him a 'revolutionary'.

Buddy Collette

Buddy Collette is a famous jazz performer who played the drummer Chico Hamilton. Collette formed a group with three artists, his band called 'The Shepherds Swing'. His band has made some great recordings that exploit a combination of flutes of different pitches.

He also explores previously unheard instrumental combinations, mixing his soft and free-spirited sound with a trumpet to stunning effect. This bold idea was copied by many later jazz composers and musicians.

RolandKirk

Roland Kirk is a multi-instrumentalist who became famous for his ability to play three saxophones at once! Kirk sings and speaks through Flute to some incredible effects and is also the first Flute player to widely record other types of flute, including bamboo flute, nasal flute, and a variety of flutes.
Roland Kirk was also a pioneer in the use of keystrokes and other percussion sounds. Many have said that Kirk was a real innovator in his day.

Alberto Socarras Estacio

Alberto Socarras Estacio (September 19 – August 26) was born in Cuba and later moved to the United States. He played Flute jazz from an early age and was undaunted by the instrument's volume limitations. Alberto Socarras Estacio performed and recorded, what many consider to be the first Flute jazz soloist on a piece called 'Shooting the Pistol' with the Clarence Williams Orchestra.

Wayman Carver

Wayman Carver (December 25 – May 6, 1967) is often called the 'first Flute jazz artist'. Carver was one of the very few Flute artists active in the swing era and he performed alongside some of the great 'jazz musicians' of the time including Dave Nelson, Benny Carter, Spike Hughes and even Ella Fitzgerald.
He recorded with the band Chick Webb for several years, soloing tracks like "Sweet Sue" and "I Got Rhythm." In 1944, Time Magazine described Carver as "an outstanding flute player.” Carver went on to have an equally highly regarded career as a teacher and instructor, passing on his skills. skills for the next generation of performers.

Severino Gazzelloni (1919-1992)

An important figure in this period was the Italian Flute artist Severino Gazzeloni. Severino Gazzeloni (1919 – 1992) was an Italian Flute artist considered by many to be one of the best artists of all time.

He has performed as a member of the RIA Symphony Orchestra in Rome for over 30 years and also has a very successful career as both a soloist and a teacher.

Gazzeloni's music truly transcends genres and traditions. Not only is he world-famous for his avant-garde music, as with Berio's 'Sequenza' and other works written by composers such as Boulez and Stravinsky, he is also considered a jazz musician and a 'mixed' artists wow audiences with performances around the world.

Ron Burgundy

And finally, the best flute player of cinema - Ron Burgundy. Ron Burgundy not only appeared in a series of comedies, but the character also appeared widely in other media. Besides, he is also considered a good and unique Flute player. The wide presence allowed the character to rank at number 16 with a list of 100 influential figures.